What is ‘The 52’?

Want to know more about The 52? Then you’ve found the right place! Check out some FAQs below.

What is The 52?
In short, this blog will be outlining 52 reasons – one a week for the next year – why women’s sport is brilliant. This could be individuals, teams, moments, schemes – literally anything. I will be writing about one each week between 16th June 2018 – 15th June 2019 to help share stories from women’s sport and, ultimately, help increase its visibility.

What inspired you to write this?Sitting in the audience at this year’s Women’s Sport Trust #BeAGameChanger Awards, I was frustrated. Not frustrated at the event – it was a fantastic and inspirational night – but frustrated at myself for not knowing the names of every single athlete there.

I recognised rugby players Rachael Burford and Tamara Taylor, Olympic silver medalist Bryony Page and Team GB bobsledders Mica McNeill and Mica Moore amongst a number, but there were also others whose faces I knew but names I didn’t until I checked on Google. More embarrassingly, there were some who were quite clearly athletes but I just had no idea who they were.

This was made even worse by the fact that I’m in a very small minority who would be able to name all of these fantastic sporting stars. And it made me realise that, despite all the fantastic advances in coverage of and respect given towards women’s sport in recent years, there is still a long way to go.

It has always confounded me just how differently people have viewed women’s sport to men’s. Having grown up in a household where my sister was encouraged to play sport from an early age and being surrounded by plenty of athletic female friends at school, it never ever occurred to me that women’s sport should be seen any differently to men’s.

But as I got into journalism I started noticing just how little coverage there was of women’s sport and actively sought to change this. In the society we live in, there is no reason for this inequality and fortunately there are plenty of other journalists like me who are slowly starting to remove the archaic and incorrect stereotypes attached to women’s sport.

Therefore the aim of this blog is to help push forward those changes, to put women’s sport in the spotlight alongside the men – where it belongs.

I am not a big name, I don’t have much budget to promote this but hopefully my passion will come across and I can help change perceptions and increase visibility of women’s sport.

Why are you concluding on the 15th June 2019?
That is the date that the Great Britain women’s hockey team will play The Netherlands in the Pro League, the first time the two will meet on our soil since that incredible evening at Rio 2016.

This was a watershed moment for me. Seeing the level of adulation and positivity the girls received over the next few days was fantastic and unprecedented. It was at this moment that I realised I’d never seen such praise directed towards women’s sport before and it was then I really began to realise that I wanted to make a difference and promote women’s sport for what it is – just as epic as men’s.

Where can I read the posts?
Here – https://the52blog.co.uk/blog-posts/

I can see other blog posts?
Not to worry, that’s from when I was writing under the ‘Ransports’ guise! Feel free to have a read of them as well though, I hope there’s some good stuff in there!

I want to see someone/something named in The 52 – can I nominate them?
Yes please! This blog is to promote women’s sport as a whole, no matter what it is. If you know of someone or something who is doing fantastic work then please email me at editor@the52blog.co.uk.

Can I follow you on social?
We are currently on Twitter – @the_52blog. We also have a Facebook page as well which you can find by searching for ‘The 52 Blog’. We currently aren’t on Instagram but if you think this should change let me know!

Why should I care?
Women’s sport is just as fantastic as men’s, yet they are still treated as second-rate to them in so many cases. In the 21st century this is just not on and, if you love sport, this is something we should all be aiming to change.